Marching Forth!

I've been reading through Leviticus in the mornings and it struck me how leprosy is different from other uncleanness in that it cannot be washed away.  A person who contacted an unclean thing could wash in water and be unclean until evening, but lepers themselves were unclean.  There was no washing away the disease or the stigma of an incurable illness which required lepers to live alone outside the camp.  The Law of Moses required them to wear tattered clothing, cover their upper lip and cry out "Unclean!" to all who drew near them. One of the more involved rituals in the Law was for the ceremonial cleansing of leprosy.  It seems a strange thing, to have an established process for lepers to be declared clean when lepers remained lepers.  The tone of the scripture implies cleansing was possible, yet there was never a suggestion as to how a leper could be healed.  Apart from Moses who was enabled by God to use leprosy as a sign and Miriam whom God miraculou...

It has been 10 years to the day that I arrived in Sydney on a Religious Worker's Visa to serve at Calvary Chapel Sydney as pastor.  I came without my family to begin preparing for the adventure of immigrating to a foreign land without any knowledge of how things would turn out.  All I can say is God is faithful and provided for our family at every step.  For all we gave up there was also gain beyond our expectations.  The difficulties and uncertainties were tempered by the greatness of the God who called us and would never leave or forsake us.  Just the fact we are still here after all this time is an amazing testimony of His grace and goodness. It is fitting as I reminisce over the past 10 years in Australia I am struck by the contrast of how much God has done and how little I have accomplished.  It is true what the scriptures affirm, that in my flesh dwells no good thing.  Anything that resembles good from my efforts is all by the grace and powe...

A personal testimony is a useful witness for believers of the transforming and saving power of Jesus Christ through the Gospel.  The impact can be lessened when the focus is primarily on the sinful season of life before Christ or a conversion experience itself.  This leads to people thinking their "testimony" is boring or ordinary if they were raised in a Christian home and did not have a dynamic shift from drug-dealing pimp to pastor.  Those who glamorise a sensational conversion can potentially encourage people to seek a feeling or moment comparable to what they have heard to affirm the reality of God's work within them.  If a testimony stops at conversion, it isn't much of one.  A testimony without the Gospel lacks the power to save.  As a child of God in relationship with Jesus Christ there is much more to say with Him as the primary focus. A testimony does not need to be long to have great impact.  I remember asking a friend how his wife changed a...

I am amazed how the Bible remains as relevant as ever:  the very issues faced by the early church concerning practices, doctrine, liberty and society are ongoing.  Seeing the scriptures have been inspired by God for our learning, one might assume the lessons would have been learned by now.  Alas, our own lives are a testimony against this idea.  Like the children of Israel who saw God's miraculous wonders and did not obey Him, we can be exposed to the teaching of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and remain in darkness. Psalm 119:105 says, " Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. "  There are a lot of people who claim to have knowledge to shed light on the true meaning of the scriptures who distort the truth, a practice far more dangerous than outright lies.  With the internet it has never been easier to share the scriptures or espouse twisted interpretations of them than today.  It is very easy to choose interpretations which su...